Red Bull Racing profits soar
Red Bull Racings profits before taxes were up more than six-fold year on year in 2009, according to British media.The Daily Telegraph reports today (Mon) that the British Formula One (F1) team which is financed by Austrian energy drinks producer Red Bull increased to 4.6 million Euros from 2008 to 2009.The newspaper also claims Red Bull Racings expenditure soared by around 30 per cent to 123 million Euros. The team spent 66 million Euros on research and development in 2009, up by 18.8 per cent year on year, according to the report.Red Bull Racings 2009 turnover was 186 million Euros, the Daily Telegraph reports.Both the teams drivers, Australian veteran Mark Webber and up-and-coming German Sebastian Vettel, have chances to win the championship this season. After 17 of 19 races, Webber is in fourth in the current standings headed by Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari while Vettel is in fourth.The season will continue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, next weekend before finishing in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on 14 November.Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz claimed the company had “no long or medium-term business plans” in F1. “The secret to the teams success is all about people. We have recruited the best and most professional people for all the key positions,” the Austrian businessman is quoted as saying.Mateschitz, who rarely speaks to the press, is considered as the fourth-richest Austrian with an estimated personal fortune of 4.1 billion Euros.His company, which is based in Salzburg, sold almost four billion cans of its trademark drink last year. The company sponsors extreme sport athletes from all over the world, but also invests in football clubs in Europe (Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig) and America (New York Red Bulls).